Monday Dec 1, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) --  A study published in 2007 in Hypertension showed that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages increased serum uric acid in men, but not women.

It is known that fructose found in cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup commonly used in soft drinks has been associated with increased levels of serum uric acid, which is believed to cause gout.

Researchers have long speculated that fructose-induced hyperuricemia might play a causal role in metabolic syndrome, hypertension and other chronic disease.

Gao X and colleagues from Harvard University School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts examined the association between serum uric acid concentrations and intakes of added sugars and sugar sweetened beverages in 1988 men and 2085 women age 18 or older who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2002.  Dietary intake was assessed by a single 24 hour recall.

The researchers found that men in the highest intake quartile of intake of added sugars or sugar-sweetened drinks had higher serum uric acid concentrations than those in the lowest quartile after potential confounders were considered.

But no association was observed in women.

Another study led by Choi JW and colleagues from Arthritis Research Centre of Canada and published in 2008 in Arthritis and Rheumatism found that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages increased serum uric acid concentrations.

The study involved 14,761 participants age ages 20 or older from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey   between1988 and1994.

The researchers found that serum uric acid increased with increasing sugar--sweetened soft drink intake.   Serum uric acid concentration was 0.08, 0.15, 0.33, and 0.42 mg/dL in participants who had intake of <0.5, 0.5-0.9, 1-3.9, and >or=4 servings of sugar-sweetened soft drinks per day respectively.

Those who consumed <0.5, 0.5-0.9, 1-3.9, and >or=4 servings of sugar-sweetened soft drinks per day were 1, 34, 51 and 82 percent more likely to have hyperuricemia (greater than 7.0 mg of uric acid per dL for men and more than 5.7 mg/dL for women) respectively compared with those who did not consume any.

The researchers concluded "These findings from a nationally representative sample of US adults suggest that sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption is associated with serum uric acid levels and frequency of hyperuricemia, but diet soft drink consumption is not."